How often do Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, Pasadena or North Hollywood get a dusting? How about Zuma Beach and Malibu?

Not often. Which is why the weather was the buzz Thursday among flatlanders and hill dwellers.

“We’ve been getting a lot of phone calls about it and people are pretty interested. This is really getting people excited,” said Lisa Phillips, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles/Oxnard office.

Yes, there was snow in 2013, 2014 and 2015, according to Phillips. But the last time it accumulated in downtown L.A. was 1949, and there were reports of it snowing there Thursday, she said. The weather service hadn’t confirmed that it was sticking, however.

The storm that moved across Southern California brought with it a blast of cold air from the north and left many throughout the region surprised to see snow falling. By midafternoon, the snow level had dropped to 1,400 feet and, according to the weather service, was going to continue to drop overnight.

Savanah Viramontes, 9, of Hesperia, and family have a snow flight near Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass near Hesperia on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Mountains are blanketed with snow as traffic makes its way slowly through Cajon Pass on northbound I-15 near Hwy 138 in Phelan on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Sound

The gallery will resume inseconds

Martin Dominguez, 23, of Hesperia, plays in the snow on side of the I-15 in the Cajon Pass near Phelan on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Mountains are blanketed with snow as traffic makes its way slowly through Cajon Pass on the I-15 near Hwy 138 in Phelan on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Gerardo Diaz, of Santa Ana, stops to capture snow scenes along the I-15 in Cajon Pass near Phelan on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

A stuffed Santa Clause doll is covered in snow near Oak Hill Road in Cajon Pass near Hesperia on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

A man stops to capture the snow scenes along the I-15 in Cajon Pass near Phelan on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

A train rolls along the snow covered hills in the Cajon Pass near Devore on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Mountains are blanketed with snow as a train and traffic slowly move through the Cajon Pass on the I-15 near Hwy 138 in Phelan on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Ayden Gordon, 1-year-old, of Victorville, couldn’t resist to taste the fresh snow along the side of Mariposa Road in the Cajon Pass near Hesperia on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

A train rolls along the snow covered hills in the Cajon Pass near Devore on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Ayden Gordon, 1-year-old, of Victorville, couldn’t resist to eat some fresh snow while playing with family along the side of Mariposa Road in the Cajon Pass near Hesperia on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Mountains are blanketed with snow as traffic makes its way slowly through Cajon Pass on the I-15 near Hwy 138 in Phelan on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

A train rolls along the snow covered hills in the Cajon Pass near Highway 138 in Phelan on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

The snow covered San Bernardino Mountains are seen as the sun sets from the North Etiwanda Preserve in Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Snow sticks to the roofs of homes near the North Etiwanda Preserve in Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A family is seen walking before the snow covered San Gabriel Mountains as snow sticks to the ground in the North Etiwanda Preserve in Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Snow sticks to the ground before the San Gabriel Mountains in the North Etiwanda Preserve in Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A line of vehicles are turned away at the point where Highway 38 was closed down, due to an avalanche, at the Mill Creek Ranger Station in Mentone on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A man walks in the field near the Mill Creek Ranger Station in Mentone on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A line of vehicles are turned away at the point where Highway 38 was closed down, due to an avalanche, at the Mill Creek Ranger Station in Mentone on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Vincent Sanchez, of Mountain Home Village, puts chains on his car, before being allowed past the road block to get home, at the Mill Creek Ranger Station in Mentone on Thursday, February 21, 2019. An earlier avalanche shut down Highway 38 to all traffic. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A CHP vehicle sits at the point where Highway 38 was closed down, due to an avalanche, at the Mill Creek Ranger Station in Mentone on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

Clouds begin clearing as the sun sets in the North Etiwanda Preserve in Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday, February 21, 2019. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

A truck drives through snow in the La Cresta area above Murrieta Thursday February 21, 2018.

A hillside is covered with snow after a snow storm hit the La Cresta area above Murrieta Thursday February 21, 2018.

An oak tree stands on a hill as snow falls around it in La Cresta area above Murrieta Thursday February 21, 2018.

Randi Solmonsen (CQ) of Menifee tosses a snowball in the air as her son Jacob tries to stay warm while the two play in the snow on a hill in the La Cresta area above Murrieta Thursday February 21, 2018.

Randi Solmonsen (CQ) of Menifee adjusts her son Jacob’s jacket before the two play in the snow on a hill in the La Cresta area above Murrieta Thursday February 21, 2018.

A truck drives through snow in the La Cresta area above Murrieta Thursday February 21, 2018.

A jeep drives through snow in La Cresta area above Murrieta Thursday February 21, 2018.

Jacob Solmonsen of Menifee, throws a snowball at his mother Randi as the two play in the snow on a hill in the La Cresta area above Murrieta Thursday February 21, 2018.

By midday, Caltrans had shut down all highways into the Big Bear area in the San Bernardino Mountains. There were reports of avalanches and mudslides along Highway 38, according to the weather service and the California Highway Patrol. Highway 18 from Lucerne Valley to Big Bear reopened to motorists who had snow chains about 2 p.m.

Highway 74 from Lake Elsinore into Orange County was also closed at about 4 p.m. due to snow but reopened before 6:30 p.m.

Traffic made its way, slowly, on the 15 Freeway in the Cajon Pass.

The storm was one in a series that has slammed Southern California in recent weeks, bringing drought-ending rainfall to much of the area and leaving mountain highways damaged and closed for weeks, and in the case of Highway 243 in the San Jacinto Mountains, even months.

The wet weather could be here a while longer — the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced last week that an El Niño had arrived and could continue through the spring.

The chill and flurries weren’t familiar for much of Southern California.

Residents in areas including Fontana and Calabasas talked about the uniqueness of the winter storm and its impact. Even actor Jerry O’Connell tweeted about it Thursday afternoon. Snow was also reported in Hemet, San Jacinto, Malibu and at Zuma Beach, although the weather service said it was unclear whether the snow was on the sand or, more likely, in the hills above.

Some people who thought they saw snow actually saw snow pellets, said Brandt Maxwell, a meteorologist in the weather service’s San Diego office. Snow pellets are snow that becomes covered with ice and resembles “really small hail” and can form at a temperature as high as 41 degrees.

The snow level was so low Thursday because of what is called evaporative cooling. Maxwell explained that dry air near the ground evaporates the precipitation. Thermal energy is required for the evaporation, and using up that heat allows snow to fall at lower elevations than usually otherwise possible. That process can lower the snow level 300-500 feet or more, Maxwell said.

On New Year’s Eve 2014, snow fell in Murrieta and surrounding areas at an elevation of about 1,200 feet. That storm was different than Thursday’s in that there was widespread accumulated snow on the valley floor, Maxwell said.

The upper elevations were not left out of the unusual weather Thursday. The weather service reported “thundersnow” in the San Bernardino Mountains. Thunder and lightning are 1,000 times rarer during snowfall than rainfall, Maxwell said.

A severe storm threat extends on the massive cyclone's south and east side, from northern Mississippi and Alabama into southern Michigan. "Damaging winds and a few tornadoes will be possible along with large hail," the Weather Service said Thursday.